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Oil & Gas $7,958,840 John McCain (R)

Actually Bush didn't start it.. Saddams refusal to comply started it.. Bush and Blair brought resolution 1441 to the UN.. Saddam had time to surrender for the sake of his people.. he did not.. so that is not Bush or Blairs fault.. and we witnessed why Saddam did not surrender.. he was HUNG by the Iraqi's.

Senate Republicans Block Energy Bill

December 13, 2007

By a narrow margin, the Senate today failed again to block a Republican-led filibuster on an energy bill as GOP leaders made a stand against a $21.8 billion, 10-year tax package that would have extended incentives for wind and solar energy and reduced some tax breaks for oil companies.

The vote stalled a bill that includes tougher fuel and appliance efficiency standards and a requirement for a massive increase in biofuels.

Democrats had argued that the tax measure, including $13.5 billion raised from the oil industry, was modest and simply took back tax breaks that oil companies had received only recently and did not need with oil prices around $90 a barrel.

"The future just failed by one vote. The past was preserved," Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) said after the vote. "The oil companies are now celebrating in their boardrooms."

Republicans said that higher taxes on oil companies would not help lower prices for consumers.

Wind, solar groups and environmental groups expressed dismay at the vote. They said they had hoped that support would come from such GOP senators as Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), John W. Warner (R-Va.), Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), all of whom voted against closing debate.

"For the wind industry, it looks like coal in our Christmas stocking," said Gregory Wetstone, senior director for government and public affairs at the American Wind Energy Association.

The American Petroleum Institute issued a statement saying: "We applaud the Senate for recognizing the adverse effect that increased taxes would have had on future energy supplies." But API said it still opposes other provisions, including elements of the bill regarding biofuels.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/
2007/12/13/AR2007121300281.html

Fuel economy and alternative fuels
As Senate Democrats reworked the legislation, Democrats said that even without the tax provision the legislation will make major strides toward shifting U.S. energy policy.

The bill's centerpiece requires automakers to increase vehicle fuel economy to an industry average of 35 miles per gallon over the next 13 years - a 40 percent increase and the first boost in the federal gas mileage requirement since 1975 when the rules were first enacted.

For years, auto companies have fought successfully any increase in the automobile mileage standard which now is 27.5 mpg for cars and 22.2 mpg for small trucks and SUVs. But an agreement forged with the help of Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., the longtime protector of the auto industry in Congress, cleared the way for the new requirements which have bipartisan support.

It also would rapidly ramp up the required production of ethanol, eventually to 36 billion gallons a year by 2022, a sevenfold increase. At least 21 billion gallons must be from feedstock other than corn such as prairie grasses and wood chips.

And it would increase energy efficiency requirements for appliances and federal and commercial buildings and require faster approval of federal energy efficiency standards.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22240649/

In November, 2005, Energy Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) announced he would not require oil executives to testify under oath. When Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) asked for a vote, Stevens vociferously responded, "There will be no vote... It's the decision of the chairman, and I have made that decision."

(It seems this "I am the Decider" thing is big in Republican circles.)

When Cantwell and Barbara Boxer (D-California) pushed the vote, the not-troubled or sympathetic Stevens answered "That's the last we're going to hear about that, because it's out of order. I intend to be respectful of the position that these gentlemen hold."

So, when Republicans cry weepy tears about how troubled and sympathetic they are to Americans in financial straights, they had their chance to show leadership. They've had the chance for five years. Instead, they showed sympathy for "the position these gentleman hold."

Sympathy is flexible, it seems.

As Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho) told the oil executives at that November, 2005 hearing, "It's not terribly fun defending you, but I do."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-j-elisberg/
passing-gas-in-congress_b_20134.html

So in an era of mega-profits for oil companies - they still get tax breaks.

In the recent special election for a solidly Republican House seat in Louisiana, the national GOP ran an ad tying the Democratic candidate, Don Cazayoux, to Obama and his allegedly "radical agenda." The Democrat won—taking away the seat from the Republicans for the first time in 33 years. The result was "a sharp wake-up call for Republicans," declared former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich. "The Republican brand has been so badly damaged that if the Republicans try to run an anti-Obama … anti-Reverend Wright campaign, they are simply going to fail," Gingrich wrote. "This model has already been tested with disastrous results."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/136440/page/2

The Democrats are running out of gas.

Huckabee also apologized again for remarks he made Friday to the National Rifle Association. Responding to an offstage noise during a speech, Huckabee said it was Democrat Barack Obama diving to the floor after someone had aimed a gun at him. Huckabee issued an apology Friday evening.

"It was a dumb, off-the-cuff remark," he said. "I apologized for it immediately. Anybody that knows me knows that I would never, ever try to inject something like that to create any dangerous moment for any candidate."

Huckabee added: "It wasn't the first dumb thing I've ever said. And ... it won't be the last dumb thing I've ever said."

Republican candidates drop out of House races
04/23/2008

* What's happening? Two Republicans are dropping out of Salt Lake County legislative races
* Who? Deena Ely in the Magna area (House District 22) and Susan Lawrence in the Holladay and Millcreek area (House District 36).

* Interesting fact: Both Republicans lost in the last election by narrow margins.

http://www.sltrib.com/utahpolitics/ci_9023232

And the governor, in an interview with The Chronicle last week, had some candid advice and observations, not only about the GOP brand - but on McCain's efforts to expand his appeal to independents and disillusioned Democrats.

"The Republican idea is a great idea, but we can't go and get stuck with just the right wing," Schwarzenegger said. "Let's let the party come all the way to the center. Let those people be heard as much as the right. Let it be the big tent we've talked about.

"Let's invade and let's cross over that (political) center," he said. "The issues that they're talking about? Let them be our issues, and let the party be known for that."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/18/MNI410LK62.DTL

"The Republican brand is terrible right now," said Bill Whalen, a research fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. "It's been damaged by a weak presidency ... and the various legs on which the Republican platform rests have been kicked away."

Among them, Whalen said, has been fiscal discipline - crumbling along with the $1 trillion-plus deficit - and family values, a victim of corruption and scandals involving a cast of characters from lobbyist Jack Abramoff to jailed former San Diego Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham.

- Ibid

That is blatantly incorrect glamour6, Iraq was in compliance with UN SCR1441, and UNMOVIC was on the ground verifying that Iraq had destrroyed its WMD arsenal, Bush chucked the inspectors out and Shock and Awe commenced.

Help us Lord, save the world from Bush and Cheney. Please use your executive privalege and send them to hell. This is the scariest duo in history. Hundreds of 1000's dead innocent Iraquis would agree.

Hasta la vista, Bushie.

MG he's not running..and at least he won't be remembered for being involved in a sex scandal in the WH..those are the kind of scandals that haunt an ex president for years...almosy ten years later and we're still talking about it..